Algerian president urges for massive participation in May's polls

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Saturday urged his people to vote massively in the legislative elections of May 4, while warning of what he called "foreign plot" that aims at harming national stability.

"Algeria will hold the legislative elections (scheduled for May 4) as the people will vote for their representatives at the People's National Assembly (lower house of parliament), and therefore I call on the sons of our country to exert their right while massively participating at these polls," Bouteflika said in a message to the people on the occasion of the National Martyr Day, read on his behalf by his personal adviser, Mohamed Ali Boughazi.

President Bouteflika reassured that the forthcoming elections will be fair and free within the framework of the Constitution and Law. He implicitly replied to the opposition parties who are still skeptical that the May 4 elections would be tricked, as some of these parties have decided not to participate in the polls, while some others have been urging the people not to vote.

The May 4 elections are the sixth electoral contest since 1989, the year that the North African nation has adopted multi-party system.

source Xinhua